Apple Music's Jimmy Iovine: Women 'Find It Difficult To Find Music'

November 20, 2015 at 4:01 AM (PT)

APPLE MUSIC executive and long-time music industry figure JIMMY IOVINE went on CBS THIS MORNING with MARY J. BLIGE to discuss the new ad for the streaming music service, but his contention that women need help in finding music has resulted in a firestorm of comments from all quarters.

On the show, IOVINE said, "I always knew that women find it very difficult at times – some women – to find music. And this helps makes it easier with playlists, curated by real people. They’re not made by algorithms alone. They’re made by algorithms, but with a human touch ... I just thought of a problem: Girls are sitting around talking about boys. Or complaining about boys, when they have their heart broken or whatever. And they need music for that, right? It’s hard to find the right music. Not everybody knows a DJ."

The ad, directed by AVA DUVERNAY ("SELMA"), stars BLIGE, KERRY WASHINGTON, and TARAJI P. HENSON and includes WASHINGTON saying, "It’s like you have a boyfriend that makes you a mixtape – in your laptop!,” followed by the on-screen tag line "INSTANT BOYFRIEND MIXTAPE SERVICE.”

The comments were met with harsh criticism and charges of sexism from several prominent news and commentary sites, including YAHOO! MUSIC, NEW YORK MAGAZINE's VULTURE, THE (NEW YORK) OBSERVER (calling IOVINE and APPLE's attitude "mansplaining"), MUSIC BUSINESS WORLDWIDE, COMPLEX, and others, as well as many responses in social media.

Late THURSDAY, IOVINE told BUZZFEED, “We created APPLE MUSIC to make finding the right music easier for everyone — men and women, young and old. Our new ad focuses on women, which is why I answered the way I did, but of course the same applies equally for men. I could have chosen my words better, and I apologize.”